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Closing the High Tech Skills Gap

Discover how Washington State is addressing the shortage of skilled workers in the high tech industry and creating opportunities for economic growth and prosperity.

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Closing the High Tech Skills Gap

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  1. Closing the High Tech Skills Gap Governor’s Executive Policy Office September 29, 2000

  2. Prosperity In Washington StateMedian Household Income (in 2000 $). Source: Office of Financial Management After years of slow growth, family incomes rose by 20% between 1995 and 2000

  3. High Tech Industries are Driving the State’s Economy • Employment in high tech sectors has grown at double the rate of the state as a whole and total wages have grown at three times the state rate • The average wage in high tech sectors in Washington was $108,000 in 1999, the highest high tech wage in the country. • Wages in the high tech industry account for 40% of the state’s total wage growth in the past five years. This income has provided investment capital for the entire state and created jobs in other sectors of the economy.

  4. . Employment in Washington High Tech Industries 1990-1999 Source: Washington Employment Security Department

  5. Average Wage for All Industries Compared to High Tech in Washington State The High Tech Industry Accounts for 40% of the Wage Growth in the Past Five Years

  6. Washington Ranks Amongst the Top High Tech States in National Comparisons • Washington State leads the nation the creation of new companies and from 1994 to 1998, the number of technology patents in the state increased by 166%. • Washington State leads the nation in high tech wages and ranks amongst the top ten states in high tech employment growth, venture capital investments, research and development investments, and software industry employment

  7. 1990-1999 Employment Growth ComparisonWashington and U.S.

  8. A shortage of skilled workers hampers the growth of the high tech industry • A 1998 Northwest Policy Center Study indicates that in the software industry, employers plan to add 64,000 new employee over the next three years. The report estimates that while employment in 1998 increased by 6,500 jobs, the number of vacancies in the industry was 7,300. • Nearly half the firms indicate that skills shortages have constrained growth and that total industry revenues would jump $12.8 billion if the industry’s hiring plans could have been fully implemented. Half the companies also indicated that skills shortages have resulted in the delay in the release of new products or updates.

  9. Washington’s Dynamic Economy ….Creates Dislocation • Washington state leads the nation in the number of new business startups per 1000 employees. Washington also needs the nation in the percent of businesses closing each year. • In the New Economy a dynamic economy is a good thing. Our economy is extremely dynamic. But this is a good thing only if Washington citizens have access to the education and training that allows them to make the transition as well. • There are 56,000 dislocated workers in Washington State, 450,000 people with disabilities facing barriers to work and hundreds of thousands of low wage workers who could use a handup into high tech prosperity.

  10. Spreading the Benefits of the High Tech Economy • The High Tech Skills Gap is a tremendous opportunity to educate thousands of citizens into high tech, family wage prosperity. • We also need to work to spread the benefits of the high tech economy to a broader area. The High Tech Economy is primarily concentrated in King County. There are 91 direct high tech jobs per 1000 jobs in King County compared to 5 in the South Sound Region (includes Tacoma) and the Peninsula, 49 in the Northwest, 22 in the Southeast, 17 in the Southwest and 13 in the Northeast.

  11. We are Making Progress -Community Colleges • The WSA study estimated that in the software industry, there is one qualified person for every four computer science and engineering positions requiring a two year degree or industry certification. • The community college system is retooling to meet the demand of the industry. Degrees and certificates conferred in high technology fields have nearly doubled increasing by 82% over the past seven years (1993-94 through 1999-00) . In the last academic year there were nearly 2,400 degrees and certifications issued.

  12. Community College High Tech Degrees and Certificates Source: State Board for Community College Education The number of degrees and certificates in high tech fields has grown by 82% in the past seven years while other degrees and certificates have declined by 7%.

  13. Community College Progress • Information technology is now the largest training program in our community college system with 19,000 students taking information technology courses in the fall 1999. More than 7,400 of those students were IT majors. The number of students pursuing job training in information technology increased by 19% between the fall of 1998 and 1999. • During the 1998-2000 period nearly 15,000 Boeing workers lost their jobs. Nearly 80% of those dislocated workers who went into retraining have entered programs of study in high tech fields.

  14. Community CollegeInvestments That Are Paying Off • Funds to expand high tech and high demand programs in community colleges were included in the 1999 biennial budget at a level of $3.3 million matched by private sector dollars. New programs awarded grants are projected to provide slots in high tech classes for 6,900 students (or about 2,500 FTEs). These students will not show up in graduate and certification number for a year or two. • Over the past few years a bipartisan effort has forged the nation’s best dislocated worker program. The Community Worker Retraining Program, enacted in 1999, and the Extended Unemployment Insurance program passed last session, have helped dislocated workers make the transition to the new economy.

  15. Progress at Washington’s Universities • The Software Alliance study estimated that there is one qualified person for every eight computer science and engineering positions requiring a four year degree and one qualified person for every six computer science and engineering positions requiring a graduate degree. • The number of Bachelor’s and graduate degrees in specific high tech fields from Washington Universities increased by nearly 40% from 1997/98 to 1999/2000. (These degrees include computer science, electrical engineering, info tech, library and information sciences) • Washington has done much better at closing the gap than the nation as a whole. Between 1990 and 1996, associate degrees dropped 11% nationally, and bachelor’s degrees dropped 9%. During this period, Washington had an increase in graduates.

  16. Bachelor’s and Graduate Degrees from Washington Public Universities in Specific High Tech Fields Source: Individual University Reports The number of specific high tech degrees increased by nearly 40% in the past three years.

  17. UW Investments that are paying off • At the University of Washington Computer Science and Engineering Program, the number of department majors has increased by two-thirds in the past five years, from roughly 400 students to nearly 700. • In the past nine years, the UW Extension Certificate Program courses sponsored by the Compute Science and Engineering Department have grown from 828 enrollments to 4,643. • State funding for the UW Computer Science and Engineering Program increased by one-third last year. In the past three years, the number of high tech graduates from the UW has increased by over 50%. • An information technology instruction grant has allowed the UW to double the size of its computer engineering undergraduate major program.

  18. WSU Investments that are paying off • The number of graduates from WSU high tech programs has increased by 36% in the past three years. • WSU’s Management Information System major in the University Business Program started up 5 years ago and now has 500 students. The program is considered one of the best in the region. • WSU’s branch campus in Vancouver has collaborated with Clark College and Vancouver high schools to develop an integrated and seamless multimedia arts program and manufacturing engineering programs to serve the technology industry in that area. • A State Information technology instruction grant allowed WSU to increase instruction support for students in programming courses, develop an embedded computer systems lab and develop a technology teaching lab in the Management Information Systems program.

  19. Regional UniversityInvestments that are paying off • The number of graduates from specific high tech programs at regional universities have increased by 10% in the past three years. Enrollments are up by nearly a quarter. • Western Washington University Received a Information Technology Instruction Grant to support creation of a Center for Internet Studies. They also received a high demand enrollment allocation to expand enrollments in management information systems. Upper division student hours in the computer science program has increased three fold in the past five years. • Eastern Washington University was awarded a $1.6 million federal grant to create a Teaching and Learning Center to integrate information technology skills’ instruction throughout the curriculum. Eastern also leveraged federal dollars to build a partnership will several school districts to help teachers integrate technology mediated instruction. Eastern received a state information technology instruction grant to create a Center for Distributed Computer Studies.

  20. Regional UniversityInvestments that are paying off • Central Washington University: Central Washington University is collaborating with community colleges and high schools to share scientific and academic advising resources with high school and community colleges throughout Central Washington. A new Master of Science in Engineering Technology program was launched this fall in two locations. Computer literacy is a graduation requirement for all students. The number of graduates and enrollments in high technology programs has tripled in the past three years. • Evergreen State College has emphasized an interdisciplinary approach to provide students with a firm grounding in science and technology. They have been innovative in the use of internships and field based programs to give students real world experiences.

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